Portugal makes deal with Venezuela on natural gas

Photo: Portugal makes deal with Venezuela on natural gas

Galp Energia, a Portuguese oil and gas company, said that it planned to bay natural gas from Venezuela and to help building a liquefaction plant there.

Galp said in a regulatory filing it intends to purchase up to 2 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas annually from state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela. The price is still to be negotiated.

The two companies are also considering a joint venture at the Gran Mariscal Ayacucho industrial complex in Venezuela's Sucre state where they may jointly build and operate a liquefied natural gas terminal, the statement said.

The formal signing of the agreement was due later Tuesday to coincide with a brief visit to Lisbon by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

In October, the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding to examine deals that Galp said could eventually supply up to 30 percent of Portugal's hydrocarbon consumption.